set and costumes were created by Léon Bakst (1866-1924). Gray purchased two reproductions of Bakst’s drawings of the décor and costumes but it is uncertain whether she actually saw the performance.15 The ballet had a profound effect in French artistic circles, sending a rippling effect through the decorative arts, with the use of fauve and symbolist colours, sumptuous and exotic materials and a strong sense of exoticism. Gray rejected the exoticism yet the use of colour and unusual materials appeared in her work throughout her lifetime.16
3.3 Damia, by Paul O’Doye, 1909-12, black and white photograph © NMI
Gray had a long-time interest in stage design and encouraged by her friend the famous actor Marisa Damia (1892-1978)17 who was introduced to her by Gaby Bloch (1879-1957), she began the drawings of scenario and character sketches dated 1916-1919 for Ballet des Animaux. At that time a number of artists were designing ballets. Rolfe de Mare (1888-1964) along with the post-impressionist painter Nils von Dardel (1888-1943) created the Ballet Suédois at the Théâtre de Champs-Élysées and by 1924 Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978) curated the scenography and the costumes for Pirandello’s La Giara.18 Before the First World War Comte Étienne de Beaumont (1883-1956) and his wife, a leading couple in Parisian society known for their extravagant parties and masquerade balls, financed a number of ballets, and with the assistance of Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) presented at the Soirées de Paris which combined ballet, poetry and theatre at the Théâtre de la Cigale in Montmartre. Throughout her life Gray had a particular interest in the combined illustrative and poetry work of filmmaker Jean Cocteau, whom she knew through her circles, and she purchased a copy of Dessins, in 1923.19 She also saw his film Le Testament d’Orphée (The Testament of Orpheus) in 1960 and stated that she was bitterly disappointed with it.20 Gray also had a copy of Belgium poet Paul Méral’s (1895-1946) Dit des Jeux du monde, a poem which was adapted into a play.21 The costumes and dance were created by Guy. P. Fauconnet (1882-1960) and the music by Arthur Honegger (1892-1955). Honegger was commissioned to write the score in 1918. It was a mimed ballet and was staged at the Théâtre Musical Moderne du Vieux Colombier, directed by J. Bathoiengel. It was recited by actors wearing masks peaking in unison. All of these different sources influenced Gray’s design.22
3.4 Le Batiscope for Ballet des Animaux, 1916-19, paper, pencil, ink © NMI
The characters for the ballet were given nonsensical names such as L’Inconnu, Le Cerf Vicieux, La Fau Freluche, Le Mandibus, Le Batiscope, Le Nincompoop - who walks backwards - and La Pravasse.23 The sketches for costumes and masks illustrate the human figures inside them and highlight how they would move. They are playful and ingenious in their concepts. Gray states in the sketches that it is ‘a ballet for animals, pardon, a ballet by animals for animals, or maybe a book’.24 However, the designs were never realised into an actual production.
3.5 Characters for Ballet des Animaux, 1916-19, paper, pencil, ink © NMI
3.6 Le Nincompoop for Ballet des Animaux, 1916-19, paper, pencil, ink © NMI
3.7 Man running in costume for Ballet des Animaux, 1916-19, paper, pencil, ink © NMI
3.8 Text for Ballet des Animaux, 1916-19, paper, ink © NMI
3.9 Figure for Ballet des Animaux, 1916-19, paper, pencil, ink © NMI
During the 1940s Gray revisited the characters which she had created for Ballet des Animaux and combined her artistic talents with her architecture when she completed a series of studies for murals. By this time Gray had purchased Les Ballets Russes de Serge de Diaghilew, Décors et costumes, 1930 by Michel Georges-Michel and Waldemar George which had illustrations of work by artists such as Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962), Marie Laurencin (1883-1956), Georges Braque (1882-1963), Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and André Derain (1880-1954).25
The first drawing was completed for her hypothetical Children’s Day Care Centre, a two-storey building which had a playroom area.26 This lyrical drawing was intended for the wall of the nursery and consists of abstract figurative forms and Gray has written in French that it is a mural for children.27 It was similar to another fresco drawing for a children’s bedroom which Gray did in the early 1940s.28 Gray also revisited these sketches for murals and developed them further when she designed the Worker’s Club project in 1947.29 The characters in this fresco appear simplified and more abstract than her previous mural designs. However, her emphasis on line in her rendition of the characters recalls the work of Beardsley, Ensor and de Chavannes.30 The drawings included dancers, which were cheerful and light-hearted, inspired by the characters created by Matisse and Laurencin, and the costumes of Goncharova illustrated in Michel Georges-Michel and Waldemar George’s publication. Gray also included a ferret, the Nincompoop again, a donkey and a dinosaur-type reptile with two legs and a long neck with a large head. Each of the characters is treated like a caricature. No sense of naturalism or space is suggested and there is a strong emphasis on line throughout.
3.10 Drawing for a mural for a nursery, 1940s, paper, pencil © NMI
Gray arrived in Paris just after the Fauves exhibited at the Salon d’Automne of 1905 causing a sensation through their use of virulent brushstrokes and violent colours. Though short lived, the movement of Fauvism was remarkably international in its range, attracting artists to Paris from different nationalities. Gray appreciated the verve with which they infused their forms with expressiveness but none of her art work displayed Fauvist tendencies. She was also friends with the Fauvist artist George Roualt (1871-1958).31 Then, with the completion of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon in 1907, with its rich diversity of sources in Ancient Iberian art, African masks and stone
